Leopard Lost
by Black Die
Summary: Three leopard spirits-Bakura, Melvin, and Mark-have landed on the earth. When they find Ryou, Marik, and Duke, something's bound to happen... maybe love? Tendershipping, bronzeshipping, DukexOMC, some puzzleshipping. AU.
1. 1: Trinity of Felines

Die: Well, hello again! I know, I should really be working on something else, but I want something a little more... entertaining.

Bakura: Why do you like playing with us?

Melvin: Yeah!

Die: Because I do!

Melvin: Well, I think you should've made the chapter longer.

Die: I didn't because this is more of a prologue anyway, and it SHOULD get longer... Now, Ryou, Marik, perform your sacred duty!

Marik: This plot was inspired by the anime Spice and Wolf, but she will make as many attempts as she can to try to break away from the storyline as she can, and there will be NO recycled characters from the show.

Ryou: Black Die does not own Spice and Wolf or Yu-Gi-Oh! She does, however, own her iPod which has numerous episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series on it.

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><p>Chapter One: Trinity of Felines<p>

xx~~East~~xx

Once, a long time ago, a pact was made between three great leopard and the humans of the world. The white leopard of the north was a fearsome creature, wonderful for battles and invoked to imbue his strength among the men of the nation. The golden leopard of the south was a handsome thing, known for his perseverance and respected for his ability to protect things, often invoked for said protection or to gain the strength needed to soldier on in a difficult situation. The black leopard of the west, a beautiful specimen, was known for his compassion and understanding, invoked to help someone gain something they loved or get over an emotional loss. In return for such generosities, the cats merely asked that they not be forgotten. And so it was for hundreds of years.

Then the Church began to grow in power. The leopards were no longer needed when there was an Almighty God to deal with their very real problems of poverty and disease instead of three little gods who could barely handle the little problems in life like the snake infestations and the robbers on the road. Thus, it was to be expected that the leopards faded slowly from the people's memories until they themselves weren't entirely sure why they called upon the cats during harvest festivals or for rituals. Little did anyone expect the great lion of the east to grow bored with their refusal to take mates and force them back into the human world for so long. It was only the pleading of his own mate, a smaller lion, that persuaded him to at least grant the three leopards their usual forms and some semblance of their normal powers.

xx~~South~~xx

Tears slid down the face of the young teen boy as he wrapped himself awkwardly in bandages, his back a burning mess of yellow pus and black-brown-red flesh interspersed between strips of bronze skin. "Marik?" a voice asked, its owner stepping from the shadows, "would you like some help with those bandages?" He jumped at the appearance of his adopted brother Odion, but calmed a little at the sight and nodded. The older boy took the roll of gauze from his fingers and pulled a few strands of errant platinum blond hair over the boy's shoulder so that it escaped the injuries, more expertly dressing the wounds and tying it in a neat knot when he was finished. "Of course," he muttered, his hands remaining on the injured skin even after the wounds were dressed, "you do realize what the price is for such assistance, don't you?" Before he could answer, Odion had ripped the remains of his dirty tunic from his waist and thrust himself into the younger's virgin depths, earning screeches of agony and pained writhing until Odion grew tired of it and tied the boy down with scraps of his own ruined clothing.

Lavender eyes clouded with tears as his bandages colored with the crimson of his reopened wounds, but when he focused on the form of his sister, he reached forward only to end up with a ball of sandy fabric shoved down his throat, causing him to gag. His eyes continued to plead for help until Odion finally pulled out, which unleashed a river of white-speckled red from the boy's abused ass, but Ishizu remained impassive. She merely kissed Odion sweetly on the lips that had only a few moments before been spewing insults at her younger brother and left him crying on the floor to cry himself into unconsciousness. In the flickering light of the candle, he saw gleaming dark lilac eyes that belonged a golden cat creature easily as big as he was come out around him, but when he cowered away, it just pulled him forward with one deft paw and began licking at the open wounds outside of the bandages with a surprisingly gentle tongue. Frightened, Marik closed his eyes and waited to feel the sting of sharp teeth sinking into his flesh.

xx~~West~~xx

Duke sighed heavily as he led his horse into the stable at the church courtyard, knowing there wasn't quite enough in his wooden cart to call for bandits. He had gotten a good price for his load of dice, but of course, such things were rare these days. Once he'd made sure the animal was successfully put away, he dropped some of his things off in the card as well before he headed out again towards the dark streets of his favorite bar. He liked the company of hot girls, though his long black hair and breathtaking emerald eyes attracted plenty of attention from the homosexual community. To be honest, he didn't care what gender it was he was fucking, but he just went with the women since he had his reputation to think about. He would only get with a male if he loved him, which would be a rather difficult thing since he was always traveling. It was a simple matter to pick up a large-breasted blonde girl at the bar and he was going back to her room when he paused in the doorstep of a house, his eyes fixated on the scene going on at the street before them.

A group of priests were leading forward a beautiful cat creature black as the night with a steel collar with four poles attached as the thing snarled past the muzzle and tried to rake them with razor-sharp claws even as it was being dragged in the direction of the church. If Duke had to guess, they suspected the large feline to be a pagan god and were going to slaughter it in order to get rid of the threat to their supremacy. A loud roar made its way past its maw as it jerked its head back, its gleaming golden eyes meeting Duke's for a long moment and freezing him in time for the brief moment they were in contact before a harsh yank to the poles had it stumbling forward to its knees. "Hey!" the girl protested, hands on her hips as she looked at him with narrowed eyes, "are you going to have sex with me or not?" He shook his head, looking up as he greedily drank in that handsome form before the dark figure of the church gates.

xx~~North~~xx

Ryou let out a little scream as he struggled against the hands on his arms, trying to escape the hold, but he couldn't quite manage it. His pristine white robes and long white hair made him look all the more like an angel, the entire reason why he was being pushed into the strange crevice where the people of his village would make sacrifices to the great leopard who kept them safe. With the war looming, there was no other way they could think of to protect their loved ones other than a blood sacrifice of the one boy who had no family in town since his mother and sister had died in a raid several years back and his father was on an extended business trip. His whimpers drowned out the sound of the village elder as he read out the speech to the great leopard, but he let out a terrified scream as he was simply pushed over the edge without warning or preamble.

A harsh cry escaped his lips when he hit the bottom, his legs giving out under him and his right ankle poking out at a rather strange angle. His doe eyes looked up at the surface, forlornly wishing he could reach the wonderful moon that shed its pale light over his form, but it was not to be. The cliff was too sheer for him to have been able to climb up even if he hadn't been injured. His eyes widened then as he saw the handsome silver fur of the creature perched on the edge of the cliff, its mahogany eyes burning in the light. Its tail twitched a couple times and Ryou wondered if it was the animal that profited so much from living inside the crevice where they threw live people and animals for the great leopard's pleasure, but the thought only remained for a moment before he realized it had jumped down to the bottom of the cliff and stalked towards him with the methodicy he'd seen before in a pack of wolves approaching a baby cardinal that had fallen from its nest. The only difference between the two scenarios would be that this time, no one would come to save him like he had with the little bird.

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><p>Die: For those of you who didn't realize the truth... Yami is the great lion and Yugi is his mate.<p>

Bakura: Good night, fangirls. May Zorc destroy the world while you sleep.

Melvin: Reviews will earn you hugs!

Marik: I think you should review so that you can hug him!

Die: Hey Ryou, can I borrow your Gaydar?

Ryou: Bakura's borrowing it right now...

Bakura: *snickers evilly when Ring points to his hikari*


	2. 2: What's in a Name?

Die: Hello again and welcome to another chapter of Leopard Lost! *smiles happily as sparkles surround her*

Bakura: *starts choking on a sparkle and has to be saved by Melvin*

Melvin: OHMYRA, THE SPARKLES ARE GONNA KILL US! *runs off and drags Bakura with him*

Die: *calls after them* HA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR INSULTING ME! Now boys, if you would?

Ryou: This plotline was based loosely around the anime Spice and Wolf. However, only a few ideas were borrowed and the story is in no way following any of the plotline of Spice and Wolf, nor will there be any characters other than OCs and Yu-gi-oh ones.

Marik: Black Die does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! She does, however, own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 and an awesome dragon deck on there. *mutters* though she can't seem to beat anyone on it without cheating...

Die: HEY!

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><p>Chapter Two: What's in a Name?<p>

xx~~South~~xx

Marik opened his eyes to growling, seeing the strange sight of a slightly-clubbed golden cat tail flickering across his vision. Remembering the cat creature from the night before, he gulped and slowly raised his face to see the naked back of a handsome male that looked so much like him only with his hair spiked up around a pair of golden cat ears and a more muscle-bound body that was covered in drying blood. "You're awake," the neko noted, his tail swishing as he began to turn, stopping only at Marik's protesting squeak. "That's good. I won't have to carry you around looking for some clothes."

"Who- Who are you?" he stuttered, feeling that the more appropriate question, _what are you_, wouldn't be met well by the strange male.

"I am the great golden leopard of the south, protector of those who cannot defend themselves and embodiment of all that perseveres. I have had many names over the years, not the least of which being simply 'God'. However," he continued, his eyes softening, the color a lovely dark lavender, "you may call me Melvin." He absently raised his hand up to his mouth, his tongue sneaking out as if to lap up the liquid coating his palm before he came to his senses and grimaced as he let his hand drop once more. "Now, little one, might we find those clothes now?"

Marik jumped at the sound of his father's whip slapping the stone floor like it would when he was angry, and he couldn't contain his fearful trembling between the horror of his wounds and the fact that Odion couldn't be too far behind. "Marik!" he called, "Where the hell are you, you little piece of shit!"

"It's all right, Marik was it?" the neko ventured, cocking his head to the side a little. "I have—_will—_take care of everything." He turned to stride forward, only to meet a slight resisting tug on his wrist from a handful of slender fingers. "Don't worry," he threw over his shoulder, "I'll be fine so long as you keep hold of the Sennen Rod in your fingers."

"Huh?" Marik spluttered intelligently, but Melvin had already taken advantage of his confusion to start forward, snarling softly with tail slashing through the air. "Wait!" he cried, reaching out, but that slender tail was whisked too quickly out of his reach and then he couldn't contain a gasp because when the whip came down, Melvin easily caught it in his hands, smiling dangerously.

"I will give you one chance to walk away because you are the sire of my little one," he growled from deep within his chest, yanking pointedly on the leather in his hand to jerk its handle from the dirty man that stood at the far end of the tunnel, back where the light was. "Otherwise, I shall rip you apart the same way I did those foul knaves from earlier." Another snarl ripped from his chest as his ears flattened, almost becoming hidden in his hair with his anger. "I will not allow you to hurt my little one again!" The man stumbled back in fright, the tone in Melvin's voice, after all, was more than a little frightening, before he turned tail and ran. Marik raised his eyes up to Melvin's face to see a disdainful frown. "Fucking coward." Once again, he turned his face towards the younger, his face relaxing slightly. "Come on, Marik, let's go find those clothes."

The Egyptian bit his lip, not wanting to show off his own nakedness, but the neko snorted, having grown impatient, and then picked up the human bridal-style, gaining himself a yelp in the process. "H-hey! Put me down!" he protested.

He only earned himself a light chuckle and a tightening of the arms around him. "Calm down, little one. You're safe in my arms, I promise. So long as you hold that Millennium Rod, I won't leave you."

"Huh?" he spluttered, then he felt something cold and metallic collide against his bare chest. Confused, he looked down to see a golden scepter-like object with an eye on it and his lavender eyes widened. "What the hell is this doing here?" he yelped, squirming so fiercely Melvin had to stop walking to make sure he didn't drop the smaller boy. "It's supposed to be in the vaults down in the crypt, waiting for its proper wielder!"

Melvin rolled his eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, I was the one who made the Millennium Rod, so I say that you're the proper wielder." Marik stilled in his arms, so he started walking again. "Are you going to give me any more trouble, or are you going to behave until I can get us to a market and get us some proper clothes?"

"I'll behave," he whispered, a little frightened of Melvin now. If legends were correct, a very dangerous leopard creature had been the one to make the Millennium Rod they had made, one that had no problem with murdering people in cold blood and licking the blood from its claws. Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, he had no intention of getting on the wrong side of the creature who had killed almost his entire family.

xx~~West~~xx

Duke managed to figure out which of the cells held the creature he'd seen earlier, but to his surprise, when he peeked in, a pair of emerald eyes glared up at him and a low growl escaped from the shadows, forming the words, "I suppose you too are here to throw shit in my face." He shook his head adamantly, fixing his jade eyes on the gleaming from the darkness, noticing how the height shrunk slightly. "If you do not intend to take advantage of my state, then what is it that you are doing here?"

"I'm going to free you."

The emeralds tilted, no doubt in response to the entire head moving to the side in confusion. "No doubt that you have confirmed my position as an unholy creature simply by conversing with me, so why would you bother to attempt to release a demon such as myself?"

"Because no one deserves to be imprisoned like this simply for existing."

The emeralds grew impossibly wide, then sharp, cold laughter rang through the tiny cell, echoing loudly over the stone walls. The motions of that outburst pushed a few limbs into the light, revealing human skin pale as the moon before they were pulled back into the refuge provided by shadow. "You know nothing of me, human," the feline stated, amusement in the tone of voice even if there was a calmer aura about the prison. "For all you are aware, I have slaughtered millions of small children, women, and elderly only to guzzle their lovely crimson lifeblood down my throat to slake a thirst present only for a passing whim of mine."

"Stop it!" he cried, his hands covering his ears now to stop that voice from continuing and his eyes screwed tightly shut so that he didn't have to see the frightful gleam in those eyes that were so much like his own. "You couldn't have done something like that because then you would've been killed a long time ago!"

After a long moment without an attempt to further the argument, he opened his eyes to see the strange sight of a small naked neko-girl with impossibly pale skin and hair as dark as his own, if not more so, standing on the crappy cot that was on the floor beneath the bars in the ground, putting her face inches from the metal blocking her escape. "You are a strange human," she stated, cocking her head to the side again and this time letting them see the few strands of long hair that fell across her face. "All I had known before would have simply left me for dead and moved on, even if they _had_ happened to see me in my better form in a position like I was when I chanced upon you in the streets. In my experience, humans are cruel creatures, worse than the animals they accuse us of being." A pair of ears he hadn't noticed before since they blended in perfectly with her hair twitched on her head even as a similarly-colored tail swished behind her as if to brush aside the matter. "However, I shall place my trust in you for the time being in the hopes that you shall do me a favor and enable me to escape."

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, curious, then frowned in thought. "Wait, you already had a plan!"

She shook her head. "No. I just know what I have to do in order to escape myself. Once I have my Item back, I will be able to manage this on my own."

"Wouldn't you like to have some help getting back to wherever you're going?" he asked, shocked she would think to do something like this on her own, momentarily forgetting that she was also that ferocious creature he'd seen bound in chains earlier.

She stared at him for a long moment, absently petting her tail with her right hand as she held it still with her left. "I have my pride to think about, Human," she snorted, eyes burning with a fierce light. "I am Zelophehad, the first of three great leopards, creator of the Millennium Anklet, the most compassionate of any, and the shadow born of terror! I do not need the assistance of a scrawny mortal such as _you_ to free myself once I have recovered my treasure!"

He sighed deeply, understanding that he would make no headway with her tonight. "So what exactly _is _your treasure?"

Her hand paused from where it was stroking her tail. "The Millennium Anklet. I simply cannot leave without it."

"And where might it be, Z?"

"It is on the wrist of that filthy head priest," she replied, her eyes narrowing. "And if you attempt to call me by some ridiculous pet name again, whether it is a shortening of my name or not, I shall claw your head from your shoulders the instant I escape from this hellhole! I am a fine specimen of manhood and do not appreciate such demeaning gestures from the likes of you!" Somewhat sheepish that what he had thought was a girl all this time actually turned out to be a male, he backed away slowly. "Just where do you think you are going? Get your ass back here this instant before I- I-" A loud growl followed _his_ words as he strained to come up with a proper punishment he could carry out from inside the prison.

"Relax, Z, I'm just going to go scope out the territory, okay? Duke Devlin never would disappoint something as interesting as you are without a fight."

As he walked away, he couldn't help smirking at the loud cry of "DUKE!" from the cellblock he was leaving. Somehow, Zelophehad had proved himself to be even more interesting than he was before, and Duke would be damned if he let the creature escape him so easily. Boredom was an enemy he was not yet willing to surrender to.

xx~~North~~xx

Ryou woke up to the thud of raw meat before his face, squeaking as he backpedaled, his gaze traveling up to the face of a male with messy white hair and mahogany eyes who threw himself down beside his prize, his fingers running through his hair and seemingly uncaring about the fact that there was nothing covering him in the least. "You're awake," he stated, a white tail curled around his waist and only standing out because of the red tangled in the fur from where the tip of it had dragged through the meat. "I was beginning to think you were going to freeze to death last night."

"Huh?" the younger said, confusion in his doe eyes.

The neko rolled his own eyes, viciously tearing into the meat he had pulled from the carcass of what Ryou believed to be some sort of goat. "I accidentally hit you with a rock last night, and you wouldn't wake up."

"Oh no!" he wailed, his hands flying to his hair and instantly finding stickiness in it. "I missed the chance to see that white leopard again!" His hands pulled back and he grimaced at the dried brown crap under his nails. "Ew! And there's dried blood in my hair too!"

"Calm down fluffy," the neko advised, lazily licking the blood from his tail. "It can't be that hard to get out, now can it?"

"Yes it can!" he wailed. "And I'm not fluffy, dammit!"

Suddenly, warm arms were holding him still and there was a warm, wet sensation dragging across his scalp. "You feel fluffy enough to me," a voice whispered into his ear, breath huffing heatedly across the shell of his ear.

After a momentary struggle against his captor, he sighed and let himself go limp, giving up and crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. "My name is Ryou, not fluffy."

A rumble from behind him startled him slightly, though he couldn't tell if it was a chuckle or a growl. "And I'm Bakura, creampuff." The dragging sensation didn't let up, but to be honest, Ryou had sort-of resigned himself to the rather feline-like grooming of Bakura. Besides, with his ankle the way it was, it was hardly as if he could escape anyway. "So what're you doing out here all on your lonesome, cremepuff, and where's the Millennium Ring?"

Ryou frowned. "The Millennium Ring? Do you mean that necklace with the pyramid and the eye in the center of it?"

"That's the one," Bakura confirmed lazily, continuing his attentions on the smaller. "Where'd it go? I wouldn't have come here if you hadn't been the closest person aware of its presence."

"It-it's mine," Ryou stammered, a little nervous about this stranger's interest in the gift his father had given him.

"Actually, fluffball, it's _mine_. I'm the one who enchanted its tines to point to its wielder's desires, after all."

"Then why is it back at _my _house?" he yelped in reply, causing the neko to pause in his actions.

"It was- er- I los-" he cut himself off, his body stiffening against Ryou's as he struggled for the right word. "It was misplaced. Now, accept my eternal gratitude for keeping it safe for me in the form of letting you live and tell me where the hell it is!"

"It's at my house back in the village," he replied shakily, a little scared by this new anger emanating from this strange creature. "I hid it in the house so that the others wouldn't find it when they took me. I couldn't bear if I lost it, it's all I have left of my baby sister!"

Bakura seemed satisfied by that, leaning back for a long moment as he closed his eyes, focusing for a long moment before his tail thrashed in anger. "Why the hell can't I summon it?" he growled, then turned his attention to Ryou, calming slightly as the solution came to him. "Of course, your location must not have been specific enough for me to summon the Ring back to me. No matter. You will simply have to lead me to it."

"O-of course," Ryou said. "But I can't move."

"And why the fuck not, fuzzfluff?" Bakura did not look pleased, but he seemed to be trying to keep from hurting little Ryou if only so that he didn't lose his guide.

"Because my ankle's broken, that's why!"

"Let me see." Bakura moved around Ryou, bending his head down to critically examine the leg in question. In this position, the smaller white-haired boy could clearly see the pair of cat ears that were otherwise hidden in that mess of hair twitch as his slender fingers slid over the injury, careful not to cause pain as he explored. "Well, it isn't broken, but you certainly can't walk on it." He shrugged, obviously not really disturbed by such a pronouncement. "No matter. I'll just have to carry you back then."

"What?" he yelped, panicking slightly as he was carelessly slung across the larger male's back, though his bad ankle was held in an iron grip that kept it from further harm, the older already loping towards the sheer cliff-face. "Bakura!"

xx~~East~~xx

"What are you looking at, Yugi?"

The small neko jumped, his lion ears jerking to attention on either side of his strange golden bangs before the background of his red-tipped black star-shaped hairdo as he whirled around to see the tall form of his mate. "Yami! You scared me!" he gasped, a hand on his chest as he gave a weak glare to his mirror image, except that some of the gold snaked upwards and the ears looked as if they never slumped down like Yugi's usually did.

"Sorry, aibou. I thought you knew I was there." He came closer, wrapping his arms around the smaller neko and smiling softly when Yugi's tail wrapped around his wrist. "So why were you gazing so intently at the mortal realms?"

A soft shrug of his clothed shoulders made Yami want to shiver slightly. "I was worried that they would kill their partners."

"They?"

"Bakura, Melvin, and Zelophehad. I didn't think Zelophehad would be able to seeing as he's currently in some kind of prison, but Melvin has always been fond of causing some chaos and Bakura's obsession with blood over his claws is a little distressing."

"I still don't know why you stopped me from simply executing them, koi. The three of them aren't right in the head. They haven't been ever since they came out from being captured by those hunters all those years ago. That battle with the Great Wolf simply brought it to our attention."

"We abandoned them, Yami, and they were abused as a result. Can you really blame them for being so cold and twisted? Would you do the same for me if I turned like they did?"

Yami sighed deeply. "No. No, I couldn't, aibou."

"Exactly," Yugi pointed out. "And besides, this is the best way to get them to heal, at the hands of their soulmates."

"It's hard to believe people like that even _have_ soulmates," Yami muttered to himself, only to earn a smack across the shoulders from his mate. He smiled gently, not upset when he had clearly earned the gesture. "Coming to bed with me, aibou?"

"Of course, Yami. When haven't I?"

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><p>Die: *smiles* Like the puzzleshipping I included? It's not my FAVORITE pairing, puppyshipping and stepshipping are WAY better than this, even if they too aren't my favorites, but I can stomach it WAY more than I can anything with Anzu. *shudder*<p>

Bakura: Why do we always have to do these review-encouragements?

Melvin: An excellent question and one I don't know the answer to.

Die: It's because your hikaris do the disclaimers. You're welcome to switch if you want.

Melvin: Nah, I'm good. This way we don't have to do the exit too.

Bakura: Review and I will give you a pointy knife... with blood on it...

Die: *sigh* I just hope he isn't trying to get rid of evidence again...

Ryou: Um... No?

Die: *warning tone* Ryou...

Marik: *interrupts* GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!


	3. 3: The Dangers of Trust

Die: *sigh* I'm not so proud of this chapter. Still, I don't really have any other ideas about what to happen next, so I'll live with it.

Bakura: ... Please tell me this isn't filler.

Melvin: If it's filler, I'm going to rip your head off and mount it above my door.

Die: Don't you do that anyway, Melvin? And anyway, this isn't filler. It's the chapter where you find a handful of things out, and there's some light fluff!

Bakura: My Ra, shoot me now. A fluff chapter. *pauses* How fluffy is it?

Die: As fluffy as Ryou.

Melvin: By Ra, we're all doomed.

Marik: This story was inspired by Spice and Wolf, but the plotline is drastically different and will have no real connection to Spice and Wolf for too much longer.

Ryou: *smiles cutely* Black Die does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! She does, however, own a picture of me and Kura!

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><p>Chapter Three: The Dangers of Trust<p>

xx~~West~~xx

"Rock a bye baby, on the treetop/ when the wind blows, the cradle will rock/ when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall/ and down will come baby, cradle and all," a voice sang from the prison block, followed by insane laughter from the shadowy part of the cell it originated from.

"Hey! Quiet down in there, demon!" a guard yelled, pushing his spear in the general direction of the source in hopes that he would pierce the skin of the singer, but all he did was gain a hand moving impossibly fast out from the shadows to smack the metal point of the weapon to the concrete ground, claws sprouting from slender fingers to dig into the sturdy wood, the laughter stopping just as suddenly as it had come. The demon had deigned to respond to his captors.

"Do not underestimate me, mortal," a voice hissed, unnatural emerald eyes gleaming from the darkness and seeming to go directly through the poor man. "I can handle your little stick far better than you ever could. After all, it was my little brother Bakura who invented the damn thing in the first place." As if sensing the stiffness in his body, the product of fear, Zelophehad lunged forward, pressing his surprisingly lithe body against the bars so closely he almost seemed to go straight through them like a phantom, his tail sneaking through the gaps between the metals to fall against the man's arm and draping around it like a lover. The entire experience was too much for the poor man who then fled, screaming at the top of his lungs, from the neko boy who had fallen over himself with giggles that did not speak of normalcy.

"Don't do that!" a voice protested from above, catching the glance of a single emerald eye upwards through the grate.

"And whyever not, Duke?" he asked, the tips of three fingers concealing the majority of a cruel smile and successfully holding back more of the giggling. "It is hardly my fault that normal mortals are prone to shitting their pants when I am not even _trying_ to scare them, never mind when I actually begin to play with them a little."

"Yeah, well, cut it out. It's cruel and unbecoming to taunt people like that."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine fine, take away what little entertainment I can provide myself here." With a light yawn, he rearranged himself on the floor with his legs pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on a cupped palm. "So have you managed to secure my Item yet?"

"Not quite. I got an offer for it when the man saw me looking at it during the late-night service, but I didn't want to take it until I learn exactly why it's so important."

"Because the true owner of Millennium Items such as those made by us pagan gods holds power over the creator of said item. Obedience is hardly the least of such power, hence why I cannot leave this place without my Anklet." He yawned in boredom, leaning his torso back on the arms he planted behind himself and draping one leg across the other, leaning back so that his entire body was flaunted to the other, the light smirk on his face almost daring the other to rake his jade eyes down that lithe body with its slight muscles. Duke bashfully turned his head, pointedly fixing his gaze on the stained glass window across the courtyard from them, and Zelophehad couldn't contain an amused laugh at his modesty. "Go on, you may leave me. I shall not repeat the actions, as entertaining as they are to me."

"You'd better not otherwise I'll leave you here to find your own way loose," Duke warned, turning his back and walking away.

As he'd expected, the neko started singing once more as soon as the other male had been removed from his eyesight, but only to start another child's ditty. "Three blind mice/ three blind mice/ See how they run?/ See how they run?/ They all ran after the farmer's wife/ who cut off their tails with a carving knife/ have you ever seen such a thing in your life/ as three blind mice?" he sang, then dissolved into another fit of giggles, though these seemed a little more sorrowful than the last, which had been almost mocking, and they hung in the air long after the source had stopped emitting the sound. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty at the sound; he hadn't inquired about the thing the neko had been so insistent upon receiving, wondering had kept him awake the last few hours and thus led to him returning to the cell to obtain answers. Zelophehad fascinated him, even after this current meeting that revealed a rather disturbed side of the spirit, and he had to admit the idea of holding some power over the other was an intreuging one, especially if it ensured the neko would travel with him. Zelophehad would prove a wonderful solution to his monotony, and he was determined to keep the boredom away even if it meant the neko thirsted for his blood.

His boot slipped on something that made a grinding sound on the ground as it met the unforgiving stone, Duke's quick shift of weight back onto his other foot being the only thing that kept him from meeting the stone himself, and he paused and bent down to see what it was exactly that he had found. A golden gleam met his eyes from the moonlight, the simple golden-and-leather-interlaced chain holding up a handsome pure golden eye, though the surface was a little rough and dirty from its stay in the dirt. Shrugging, Duke pocketed the item without a second thought, deciding he'd need a good night's sleep before he could return to the problem of retrieving the Millennium Anklet from the wrist of the Church.

xx~~North~~xx

Bakura easily picked out which house belonged to Ryou once he'd started exploring the outskirts of the village, figuring the smaller boy to be more fond of the relative isolation rather than the bustle of the inner square, especially given that the remainder of the village saw no problem with throwing the poor boy down into a very deep gorge for animals to pick what little meat he had on his bones—seriously, he was so skinny even _Bakura_, eternal lover of meat, would've thought twice about choosing the other as his meal if they had met in any other situation. Still, the place held so much of little Ryou's scent that it was obvious the place had been absent of visitors for a long time, other than the myriad of light, fading scents, no doubt from when he was taken. Assuming the other had worn the Ring as a necklace, he let his nose guide him rather than ask the very quiet boy clinging to his back tightly and constricting his arms from its usual range of movement, his tail protesting quietly against being smushed to Bakura's back by Ryou's pelvis but being adamantly ignored in favor of more important matters, such as locating the Ring. Belatedly, he wondered if he had scared Ryou by snarling curses at him when he had screamed earlier while he was scaling the cliff, but he shrugged the concern from his shoulders, more than used to hearing nothing more than the howl of the wind.

Not bothering to pick the locks on the door, he simply kicked the thing in, noticing absently that the splinters on the ground surely had to be the result of someone earlier having the same idea. "Um," Ryou ventured tentatively, the first thing he'd said since Bakura had gotten mad at him earlier, "the door wasn't locked."

"If you think I give a damn, fluffy, then you're wrong 'cuz I don't," the neko snarled in reply, causing Ryou's small form to flinch against his back. Absently, he wondered if the human was always this scared of everything or if it seemed to be something reserved specifically for him. This familiarity with the smaller's fear-scent helped him, however, because he could easily isolate the trail from where the idiotic villagers had dragged Ryou from the house and trace it back to the crawlspace he'd been hiding in. The space was rather tiny, there would be barely enough room in it for Bakura if he was in his other form, never mind his true one. He frowned, his head leaning forward as he focused his narrowed mahogany eyes on the darkened space of the wedge-like area as it trailed off into a smaller point. "Ryou," he said, reluctant to admit that the area was just the kind of swallowing darkness that only Zelophehad would have been able to see through, "where's the Millennium Ring?"

"I slid it to the back corner so that they wouldn't be able to take it from me and sell it to some passing merchant."

"Of course you did," Bakura sighed, the words 'fuck my life' coming to his mind. "Any idea how to get it back?" He really didn't feel like having to go back outside to find a curved stick to fish his precious Millennium Ring out, and even now the Ring wasn't responding to his attempts to summon it back around his neck where it belonged.

Ryou nodded. "Maybe if I focus on it, it'll appear on my chest?" At the glare Bakura threw over his shoulder, he wilted, doe eyes widening in alarm. "Sorry, sorry, it was a dumb idea!"

"How did you find that out?" the neko roared, his whole body taunt with his anger and the barely-restrained urge to throw Ryou from his back. "Tell me!"

"I- I accidentally dropped it down the well one time, and when I was crying about it at the house, the next thing I knew, there was weight around my neck and it was back!" He burst out crying then, frightened into tears by the murderous expression on the other male's face. "Don't kill me, Bakura, please! I don't want to be alone again!" A slender something pierced the skin of the neko's back when the smaller hugged him tighter, those slim arms more constricting than any foe he'd ever faced before, causing him to yelp with pain as his ears twitched to the side, but with the smooth sensation of gold against his bare skin, he knew that somehow, Ryou had recalled the Ring from the depths of that crawlspace and it was now hanging around his fragile neck. Once again, the words 'fuck my life' came to Bakura's mind.

xx~~East~~xx

"Now who's the one showing so much attention to the mortals?" Yugi teased when he saw Yami sitting at the pool that allowed them to gaze upon the mortal realm, the normally-confident Pharaoh's tail moving back and forth with concern and uncertainty. "Yami?"

"I heard you, aibou," he answered absently, his ears looking more like Yugi's than his own.

Yugi sat himself down on the rim of the pool, pulling his mirror over to rest with his head against the smaller's chest. "What's wrong, Yami? This isn't like you."

"I'm scared, Yugi," he confessed softly, taking comfort in the steady play of his mate's hand over his ears. "Did I make the right choice by sending the others to the mortal world? I mean, Zelophehad has those occasional touches of true insanity, Bakura's never really been one for companionship especially since he received his domain, and Melvin isn't above killing people if they get in his way or annoy him." Feeling the chest beneath him inflating with an inhalation of air, he added, "And don't try to tell me they weren't like that before those humans caught them, aibou, because they were. Trust me, I governed them from the day they were born. They've never been ones for kindness. They're proud, arrogant, and stubborn. The three of them have never changed, aibou, and I doubt they ever will. I fear I sentenced those three boys to their deaths by pairing them with those three psychos."

"It's all right, Yami," Yugi soothed, unable to resist dropping a kiss on his mate's forehead. "It'll be okay, I promise you. The Items will keep them from killing the others, and I doubt Bakura would let anything happen to the one holding his precious Ring. Melvin's already proved himself willing to protect the Rod and its holder."

"But what about Zelophehad?" Yami insisted. "Don't you remember when we banished him?

_The black-haired male was chained to his post, his emerald eyes mocking them with his jerks on the silver shackles that were strong enough to start yanking the wood straight from the ground, though he obviously had no intention of fleeing his punishment, especially considering how the tip of his ebony-furred tail could have easily picked the lock of the cell he'd been kept inside. He threw his head back, insane laughter tearing from his lips inbetween the lyrics of a haunting song—"_ _Ring around the rose-y/ pockets full of pose-y/ ashes to ashes/ we all fall down!"_

"I- I've never been so glad to see someone banished in my entire life," Yugi confessed, shivering at the echoes of the hollow laughter brought by the recollection. "But I have faith in Zelophehad. He'll turn everything around. He doesn't _want_ to be insane anymore."

Yami frowned, pulled back to look up at his mate's distraught face. "And how did you come to that conclusion, aibou?"

"Because he asked me to kill him before he went to trial."

xx~~South~~xx

By this point, Marik was well-used to wearing the concealing, dirty tan tunics that were made of a rough burlap only a few shades lighter than his skin. However, he had to admit that it didn't do Melvin any justice, even if the fabric clung closer to his bronze skin than it did Marik's and the neko had adorned himself with whatever gold jewelry he could find. He shrunk back slight when the neko turned to him but didn't protest when he was gently examined for injuries. "Hm," the larger mused to himself, "nothing on those wrists or ankles, don't want to aggravate those wounds, but a necklace or two likely wouldn't hurt, along with some armbands for those biceps." He smoothed Marik's hair back, holding it loosely with a hand as leaned in to take a look at Marik's ears. "Hmm, I suppose even those two holes could be used for earrings."

"Holes?" he yelped, lavender eyes wide before he remembered that his father had tested the heat of the knife by adding needles to the flame and piercing them through the fleshy cartilage of Marik's earlobes.

"It's all right if you'd rather they heal over," Melvin confessed, his own gold earrings shifting slightly as he straightened. "But I'd like to see you with _some_ of this on you, if only so that everyone will look at you and know that you are _mine_." At this, tears sprung up in Marik's eyes, only to be gently stroked away by a golden-furred tail. "Don't cry, little one, I didn't mean it in a possessive way. I simply wanted to protect you, and the best way to do that was to stake my claim on you."

"Melvin," the human breathed, leaning forward towards the larger, his eyes pleading for this to not be a joke.

His face soften slightly from the thoughtful scowl it had taken. "It's all right, little one," he whispered, his hand coming up to run his thumb over the soft cheek. "I'll take care of you. I won't let your injuries kill you as they have so many others."

The mention of his wounds had his arms flying over his chest protectively even if he did end up burrowing deep within the broad chest of the neko, whose eyes widened in surprise before they became half-lidded with contentment and his tail came around to wind itself about that slender, fragile human wrist. "You'll always be safe here," he pronounced softly in a voice that wavered with its daring in breaking the comforting silence, "I promise."

The loud slap of leather of flesh broke the tender moment, Marik's lavender eyes wide to the fury-consumed gaze of the neko whose ears and tail were standing bolt upright. "Get away, demon!"

Melvin's ears narrowed, falling back and in on themselves as he backed up, the light in his dark lilac eyes promising nothing short of death had the man not been holding the Millennium Rod clenched in his fist. "You are _dead_, human," he promised darkly. "As soon as the Rod is out of your hands, you are fucking _dead_."

"Melvin, no!" Marik cried as his father grew closer to him. "Don't let him hurt me!"

A roar split the air then as the neko sprang in a blur of tan and gold, pushing his opponent to the ground with a crack as the chin snapped forward. Still, the spirit wasn't done until he had stomped on the man's windpipe to crush his throat and separate his vertebrae from his broken spinal column. A dribble of blood from the man's mouth had gotten on his hand and he licked it off absently as he turned to the smaller once more, meeting frightened, wide lavender with his whole being. "Interesting," he murmured, his tail's draft sweeping some stray dirt across the cold sandstone floor.

"Wha- What?" Marik stuttered, scooting backwards at the sight of the blood-smeared other.

The neko couldn't contain a smirk, his twisted personality coming to life at the taste of the blood of something even remotely akin to the creatures who had tortured him and his elder brothers Zelophehad and Bakura all those centuries ago. Blood of any kind may have been pleasant to spill, but the taste of human blood was so _different_ from that of the spirits. More appealing. "It looks like you're the true owner of the Rod," he remarked off-handedly. "No matter. Saves me a good deal of trouble anyway."

For the first time since he had glimpsed that beautiful feline, Marik felt the stirrings of true fear. He let them take over, driving him to his feet and giving him speed as he ran through the laberinthine halls of his home. He hated living underground with all his heart but not to the point where he wanted to _die_. Throwing himself underneath the protective cloth at the altar, he pulled his legs to his chest and prayed to whatever god may have still been listening to him that he wouldn't be found.

* * *

><p>Die: YAY FOR KURA AND MELVIN SUCKING ROYALLY AT FLUFFY THINGS!<p>

Bakura: Hey, where'd the hikaris go?

Die: Oh, they got scared off when they read the chapter.

Melvin: *eyes go huge* You mean we're alone here with YOU?

Die: Pretty much, yeah.

Bakura: GET ME OUTTA HERE! *runs off*

Melvin: HEY, DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER! *follows*

Die: ... Okay guys, you can come out now!

Yami: *comes out of closet* By Ra, I thought we were going to die in there.

Yugi: *smiles innocently* Hey Yami, what's this? *holds up one of Die's bras*

Die: *snatches it and throws it in the closet* That for me to know and you to never have again. Now do your duty!

Yugi: Review and I will let you have a plushie of me!

Yami: ... I wanna review now.

Die: *smiles* Until next time! *sees Yugi playing with her bra again* HEY! PUT THAT BACK! YUGI!


End file.
